The Government is leaving North East women “high and dry” as increases to the state pension age are set to push them into financial hardship, an MP has warned.

Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell has written to Minister Ros Altmann calling on her to put in place safeguards for women born in the early 1950s after changes to the law in 1995, and then in 2011.

Women born after April 6 1950 - who had previously expected to retire at age 60 - will not be entitled to receive the State Pension until between the ages of 63 and 66.

The Labour MP says many women - some of whom have seen the pension age increase twice - have already had to cut their hours due to ill-health while others have had to become carers.

Ms Altmann has previously told Ms McKinnell there is “no more” she can do on the matter, despite herself having campaigned against the 2011 changes in her previous role as director general of Saga.

Now, Ms McKinnell has written to her again to remind her that the North East has the country’s highest unemployment rate and it is “her duty” to reconsider helping the women.

The letter reads: “I fully appreciate the need to equalise the State Pension age for men and women, and to increase it gradually in order to make our pension system sustainable in the long term.

“However, I am very firmly of the belief that it is totally wrong that this group of women – many of whom have faced discrimination throughout their lives – are being expected to bear the cost of the changes, with some of them being hit twice over.

“This is particularly so as it becomes increasingly clear that many have had very little, if any, information from the Government (about either the 1995 or 2011 changes), and therefore the time to plan properly for this.

“The Government now recognises the importance of adequate notification as it has committed to giving individuals affected by changes to their State Pension age at least 10 years’ notice in future.

“However, as I have said to you before, this is of little relevance to those women born in the early 1950s, and indeed serves only to highlight to them how poorly they have been treated.”

Ros Altmann (Image: The Age and Employment Network/PA Wire)

Ms McKinnell says she has met people across her constituency who have given up work or reduced their hours in the “mistaken belief” they could survive on their savings until the anticipated State Pension age.

She added: “I would emphasise to you again the very serious challenges faced by older women who find themselves in this situation, with limited opportunities to find alternative sources of income – particularly in the North East, which continues to have the highest unemployment of anywhere in the country.

“It is just not acceptable to leave these women high and dry. I would therefore strongly urge you, once again, to reconsider the injustice of this situation – taking on board all of the concerns that are being raised, including by the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign, and then act urgently on them to ensure that proper transitional arrangements are put in place (as indeed the Secretary of State promised he would do when the matter was being debate in Parliament in 2011). As the Pensions Minister, I believe it is your duty to do so.”

Ms McKinnell added: “It’s important that MPs keep up the pressure on the Minister, alongside campaign groups like WASPI, about the very real impact these changes are having on women across the country and I am simply not prepared to let this matter lie.

“I am also writing to the Minister with examples from my constituency of the personal impact of these State Pension age changes, and will do this for anyone who gets in touch with me. I would therefore urge any Newcastle North residents to share their case with me so that I can continue to put pressure on the Government to do the right thing.”